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Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam along with Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi has been rested from the squad for the second and third Test match against England. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) faced a lot of criticism for their bold move of removing senior players after losing the first Test at Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan.
Former chief selector of Pakistan, Iqbal Qasim also slammed PCB for their decision to exclude the former captain from the national squad. He reckoned that the fans and selectors are used to watch hundreds and fifties from Babar Azam.
"Our mindset has become such that whoever is the top performer is made the captain. But when that cricketer faces a bad phase, he is removed like a fly from milk. We’ve become accustomed to seeing Babar Azam score hundreds and fifties, and even his 'bad' innings are around 30-35 runs, while other batsmen struggle to even reach that. Why is the criteria for Babar set so high that if he scores 100, he will stay in the team, and he has to score 100 in every match?" Qasim said as quoted by cricket Pakistan.
He urged the cricket board to support players during their tough times.
“Every great cricketer, including Zaheer Abbas, has faced tough times. During those times, we need to support them and boost their morale. Why is the standard for Babar Azam so high that only a hundred keeps him in the team? You can't form a team without your superstars like Majid Khan, Imran Khan, or Javed Miandad,” he stated.
He further elaborated on Babar's contributions to the team, saying, “My personal opinion is that Babar has served as captain, reached a good position, and has been a top performer, ranked number 1 in the world. He has countless fans in India, England, and Pakistan. He needed support; we should have played him, even if you removed him from captaincy. As a player, he deserves a spot. If you say he doesn't deserve a spot as a player, that's just unfair.”
Babar Azam is currently going through a rough patch in his career the batter smashed his last century against Nepal on August 30, 2023, at Multan Stadium.
However, removing Babar, Shaheen and Naseem's decision from the squad was gone in Pakistan's favour as the Men in Green defeated England by 152 runs. This was Pakistan's first Test win under Shan Masood's captaincy.
